Prime beef producers from more than 10 countries will be competing to win the title World’s Best Steak in the first ever global championships to be held in Britain on October 15.
Entries into the competition, which is organised by William Reed Business Media brand www.globalmeatnews.com, have been received from Australia, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Uruguay, Canada, New Zealand, the United States of America and Japan.
Rod Addy, editor of Global Meat News, said: “This contest of steak goliaths pitches producer against producer, breed against breed, and country against country. It celebrates the extreme bliss of eating steak as part of a healthy balanced diet and will establish a new benchmark quality standard of steak production around the globe.
“The standard of producers competing is matched by the incredible calibre of judges who will assemble to put the sirloins through a series of rigorous tests. The world unites over steak, but it remains to be seen which producer – and which country – will be able to say it truly has the best of the beasts.”
In addition to winning the top accolade, Gold and Silver medals will be awarded following the first round of technical judging, with a second round of judging taking place to decide the World's Best Steak Producer 2015.
The distinguished award-winning Northern Ireland butcher George McCartney has been named chair of an international panel of meat scientists, master butchers, grillers and chefs who will convene in Hyde Park to decide which producer, and which breed, merits the title World Steak Champion.
Also on the panel for the technical judging are: master griller Fernando Larroude of the Gaucho Group; meat scientist Dr Phil Hadley; celebrated Parisian butcher Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec; South African master butcher Alan Franck; Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) business development executive Josh Anderson; chef and food writer Kevin Ashton; and the executive chef of the renowned M restaurant Mike Reid.
Joining them are the consumer judges for the second round of the World Steak Challenge: the food writers Sudi Pigott, Xanthe Clay and Jemima Sissons; director of documentary Steak (R) Evolution Franck Ribière; BBC magazine editor Keith Kendrick; and the British BBQ champion Al Harris aka Dr Sweetsmoke.
